A few weeks ago when I was working out I happened to be watching a show on the Discovery channel on space exploration, and some of the topics discussed on the show made me cringe more than just a little. I consider myself a fairly open-minded individual, but there are limits to what I consider "realistic", and one of the scientists on the show was what I would call over the top.
I had a client last week who needed a series of articles done on human space flight and exploration and I tied this into one of the articles because I felt it was relevant in the sense that it portrays just how far some scientists are willing to go to advance the species.
Outer space is full of dangers, both seen and unseen. Along with the time-of-trip issues that plague most of the conceptual interstellar/intergalactic is that of radiation poisoning. How to get around it? Human beings are somewhat fragile creatures in that regards, and at some point we can't build a ship strong enough to shield them from radiation for such a long period of time. Sure, they can be shielded for short-term trips, but what if we are talking 10+ years?
The idea put forward by the scientist I was watching (and I really wish I had paid attention to his name, but I was in the middle of a sweaty huff-and-puff workout) was gene splicing. Not an uncommon subject, but a controversial one at best. But what this guy was advocating literally made me sick to my stomach. He was going on about how "superior" the cockroach is when compared to human beings as a life-form. They can survive with appendages cut off, they can eat virtually anything, survive in extreme temperatures, but most importantly (to him) is how they are naturally resilient to radiation. His solution: begin experimentation now on splicing cockroach genes with human babies to see if whether or not we can create a super human that is capable of withstanding the temperatures and radiation of space without the need for super-expensive and resource-heavy protective measures.
If any of you follow the show Heroes, this is basically the same concept portrayed in the show. Human genes were experimented with and eventually people with special abilities were the result. While it sounds "cool", it's the side effects that concern me. The number of babies that would be experimented on until they got it right. It's one thing to take a willing test subject into the lab, but quite another to experiment on the unwilling as if they are nothing more than a lab rat, in ever sense of the word.
I know that eventually we will head down such a road, scientifically, I just hope that the research is headed by a level-headed scientist and not a scientific zealot whose only passion is for the end result. I understand the necessity to create alternative means of survival in the face of our rapidly dwindling natural resources, but it's a frightening topic nonetheless.
How do you like your babies? Natural, or extra-crispy?
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